St Matthew's CofE Primary is strong in 3 of 7 Ofsted areas; Merstham Park School is at the expected standard in all six areas, with safeguarding met at both.
St Matthew’s CofE Primary School in Redhill has been graded at a strong standard in three of its seven areas in its first Ofsted report card. The other four are at the expected standard. Nothing at the school was graded below that, and its safeguarding standards are met.
Merstham Park School, the 11 to 16 secondary on Taynton Drive in Merstham, was graded at the expected standard in all six of its areas. Its safeguarding standards are met too.
Both reports were published in September, from inspections at the end of the summer term. Both schools were last judged Good in 2022, under the old system.
The Merstham Park report matters to families in Year 6. Surrey’s closing date for on-time secondary school applications for September 2027 passed on 31 October 2026. The county says anyone applying after the deadline “may be considered a late applicant”.
The grades side by side
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall word. Each area gets its own grade on a five-point scale:
- Exceptional
- Strong standard
- Expected standard
- Needs attention
- Urgent improvement
Safeguarding sits outside the scale and is either met or not met. A primary school with a nursery or Reception class is graded in seven areas, and a secondary without a sixth form in six. We explained the change, with grades for every borough school inspected so far, in our Reigate and Banstead Ofsted round-up.
St Matthew’s CofE Primary School, Linkfield Lane
St Matthew’s is a Church of England academy in the SDBE Multi-Academy Trust, for children aged 3 to 11. Ofsted’s school page lists 363 pupils against a capacity of 460. Inspectors visited on 23 June and the report card was published on 9 September.
| Area | 2026 grade |
|---|---|
| Attendance and behaviour | Strong standard |
| Inclusion | Strong standard |
| Personal development and wellbeing | Strong standard |
| Achievement | Expected standard |
| Curriculum and teaching | Expected standard |
| Early years | Expected standard |
| Leadership and governance | Expected standard |
| Safeguarding | Met |
Behaviour and attendance. The report is blunt: “Pupils’ behaviour is excellent.” Inspectors found that attendance “is higher than the national picture”. They said pupils “are reluctant to miss lessons, experiences and friendships by being absent”.
Inclusion. This is the part of the report most specific to the school. Inspectors noted that many pupils join and leave during the school year, and that “numerous pupils join the school with varying levels of spoken and written English”. In their words, “every new family receives a home visit, whichever year group or time of year their child joins.” The school runs a specialist resource centre, the ‘Sun’ class, and inspectors said “pupils with additional needs learn very well in this school.”
What is not yet strong. By the end of Year 6, pupils attain in line with other children nationally in reading, writing and maths. But inspectors also wrote that “results over time in phonics and the multiplication check show that pupils have not attained highly enough.” They added that current leaders have taken “decisive and successful actions” on both. They also found that misconceptions are occasionally “not spotted quickly enough in lessons”, and that “there remains a little variation in the consistency of phonics teaching.”
The school was last inspected in June 2022, when it was judged Good overall.
Merstham Park School, Taynton Drive
Merstham Park opened in September 2018 as a free school and is part of GLF Schools. It takes six forms of entry a year. Ofsted’s school page lists 711 pupils against a capacity of 900. Inspectors visited on 7 July and the report card was published on 17 September.
| Area | 2026 grade |
|---|---|
| Achievement | Expected standard |
| Attendance and behaviour | Expected standard |
| Curriculum and teaching | Expected standard |
| Inclusion | Expected standard |
| Leadership and governance | Expected standard |
| Personal development and wellbeing | Expected standard |
| Safeguarding | Met |
Results. Inspectors said achievement “has steadily improved over the last few years and is now in line with national averages in national tests such as GCSEs.” Disadvantaged pupils have gained most: “their outcomes have improved rapidly.”
What pupils said. Pupils “are very proud of their school”, the report says, and they are “not worried about bullying”. Inspectors singled out the central pastoral office, which pupils see as “one of the most important places in the school”.
What is not yet strong. Inspectors raised three things:
- Reporting incidents. “A small number of pupils, however, are less confident in reporting unwanted behaviour such as racist or sexist language.” Leaders are working on it, the report says.
- Teaching. There “remains variability” in how well teachers check pupils’ understanding from lesson to lesson.
- Wider learning. Pupils’ knowledge of democracy and the rule of law is “less fully developed”. Year 10 work experience is “principally online” for now.
The school was last inspected in October 2022, when it was judged Good overall.
Headteacher Cullum Mitchell said, in a statement on the school’s website: “Along with our record-breaking academic results, I am also delighted that the strong sense of community and the support we offer all our students have been clearly recognised.” The school reported its best ever English and maths results in August, which we covered in our GCSE results round-up.
What it means for you
- Missed the secondary deadline? Surrey’s closing date for on-time applications was 31 October 2026. You can still apply through the county council’s admissions page, but you may be treated as a late applicant.
- Hoping to visit Merstham Park first? Its open events page says all tours are fully booked. A waiting list is open, and places are offered in the order requests arrive.
- Choosing a primary school for September 2027? Read St Matthew’s full report card rather than the grades alone: the inclusion section explains how the school handles children who arrive mid-year.
- Already a parent at either school? Ofsted says it normally inspects schools every four years. It also makes monitoring visits to schools with any area graded needs attention or urgent improvement, and neither school has one.
For the half-term and Christmas holiday dates, see our Reigate school term dates page. The Beacon School in Banstead had its report card published on the same day as St Matthew’s: five of its six areas were at the expected standard.
Sources
- St Matthew’s CofE Primary School, Ofsted: pupil numbers, capacity, trust, report dates; 2026 report card, inspection 23 June 2026, published 9 September 2026
- Merstham Park School, Ofsted: pupil numbers, capacity, trust, report dates; 2026 report card, inspection 7 July 2026, published 17 September 2026
- Merstham Park School, Ofsted page: headteacher’s statement; admission arrangements 2027-2028: opening date, six forms of entry; open events: tours fully booked
- Surrey County Council, applying for a secondary school place: on-time closing date was 31 October 2026
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